19 February 2016 Our ref: 10595-3640-16R Matt Stadler Manager, R4R State Barrier Fence and Wild Dog Management Biosecurity and Regulation Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia 444 Albany Highway ALBANY WA 6330

Dear Matt

STATE BARRIER FENCE ESPERANCE EXTENSION ASSESSMENT OF THE EUCALYPT WOODLANDS OF THE WESTERN WHEATBELT THREATENED ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY

On 26 November 2015 an ecological community named as ‘Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt’ was endorsed as a Threatened Ecological Community (TEC) under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) by the Minister for the Environment. The mapped potential extent of this TEC corresponds with the Interim Biogeographic Region of Australia (IBRA) (Commonwealth of Australia 2012) subregions of Merredin (Avon Wheatbelt 01), Katanning (Avon Wheatbelt 02), Western Mallee (Mallee 02) and drier eastern to south eastern parts of the Jarrah Forest bioregion (Department of the Environment [DoE] 2016b). (1999) The proposed State Barrier Fence Esperance Extension intersects 14.2 km of the south-eastern extent of the Western Mallee subregion to the east of Ravensthorpe between Cheadanup Nature Reserve and Oldfield River (Map 1). Vegetation dominated by Eucalypt woodlands has been mapped within this section and consequently the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA) requires an assessment of mapped vegetation types to determine whether any are likely to represent this TEC. The primary characteristic features of this TEC are that it is located within the subregions outlined above and that it is dominated or co-dominated by one or more of several key tree or mallet (not mallee) Eucalypt species that are listed in Table 2a of the formal conservation advice (DoE 2016a). The vegetation types that have been mapped within proposed State Barrier Fence alignment within the potential TEC distribution are summarised in Table 1 (Ecoscape (Australia) Pty Ltd 2015), which also includes additional vegetation types within a 5 km buffer of this section.

Table 1: Summary of vegetation types recorded within potential TEC section of the proposed alignment

Highlighting indicates vegetation types dominated by tree of mallet Eucalyptus species Vegetation Description Code

Vegetation types mapped within the Western Mallee Subregion extent

Calothamnus quadrifidus, Acacia assimilis subsp. atroviridis and Grevillea teretifolia mid open shrubland CqAp over Acacia pinguiculosa subsp. teretifolia, Cryptandra graniticola and Lepidosperma rigidulum low shrubland/ sedgeland

Eucalyptus eremophila, E. flocktoniae and E. scyphocalyx low woodland/ mallee woodland over EeMsGa Melaleuca societatis, M. sapientes and M. teuthidoides mid shrubland over Gahnia ancistrophylla, Spyridium minutum and Comesperma spinosum low open sedgeland/ shrubland

Eucalyptus obesa and E. pleurocarpa mid open mallee shrubland over Melaleuca tuberculata var. macrophylla, Beaufortia micrantha var. micrantha and Calothamnus gracilis mid open shrubland over EoMtTc Tricostularia compressa, Chordifex sphacelatus and Schoenus subfascicularis low open sedgeland/ rushland

Eucalyptus pleurocarpa, E. phaenophylla and E. incrassata mid open mallee shrubland over Beaufortia EpBmMs micrantha var. micrantha, M. rigidifolia and M. hamata mid open shrubland over Mesomelaena stygia subsp. stygia, Lysinema pentapetalum and Lepidosperma spp. low open sedgeland/ shrubland

Eucalyptus platypus subsp. platypus, E. flocktoniae subsp. flocktoniae and E. dielsii low open EpEa woodland over Exocarpos aphyllus, Gastrolobium musaceum and Daviesia argillacea mid open shrubland

Eucalyptus phaenophylla, E. leptocalyx and E. uncinata mid mallee woodland over Melaleuca hamata, EpMhGa M. subfalcata and Exocarpos sparteus mid sparse shrubland over Gahnia ancistrophylla, Spyridium cordatum and Acacia ingrata low sparse sedgeland/ shrubland

Eucalyptus sporadica and E. clivicola mid mallee woodland/ woodland over Baeckea pachyphylla, EsBpLt Melaleuca eurystoma and Melaleuca hamata mid open shrubland over Lepidosperma tuberculatum and Tetraria sp. Mt Madden (C.D. Turley 40 BP/ 897) mid open sedgeland

Additional vegetation types within 5 km of Western Mallee Subregion extent

Eucalyptus sp. Fraser Range (D. Nicolle 2157) and Allocasuarina huegeliana mid low open mallee shrubland/ woodland over Melaleuca hamata, Acacia patagiata and A. mutabilis subsp. angustifolia mid EspMhLsp open shrubland over Lepidosperma aff. brunonianum and Lomandra micrantha subsp. teretifolia low sparse sedgeland/ herbland

Eucalyptus occidentalis mid woodland over Melaleuca pulchella, M. calycina and Baeckea pachyphylla EoMpSf mid shrubland over Schoenus subfascicularis low sparse sedgeland

Eucalyptus incrassata and E. phaenophylla mid mallee shrubland over Melaleuca calycina, M. societatis EiMcGa and M. johnsonii mid open shrubland over Gahnia ancistrophylla, Daviesia lancifolia and Gahnia aristata low sparse sedgeland/ shrubland

Eucalyptus eremophila, E. flocktoniae subsp. flocktoniae and E. phenax subsp. phenax mid mallee EeEsBi woodland over Exocarpos sparteus and Melaleuca cucullata mid open shrubland over Boronia inornata subsp. leptophylla, Spyridium cordatum and Pultenaea purpurea low open shrubland

Of the above vegetation types within the mapped potential TEC extent, EeMsGa, EpEa and EsBpLt can be considered to be dominated or co-dominated by any Eucalyptus tree or mallet species, the remainder are dominated by mallees or shrubs. The following Eucalyptus tree/mallet species are recorded from these combined vegetation types:  Eucalyptus clivicola  Eucalyptus dielsii  Eucalyptus eremophila (sometimes also grows in mallee form)  Eucalyptus platypus subsp. platypus.

None of these species are listed as ‘Key eucalypt species’ (Table 2a in Department of the Environment 2016a) which must be dominant or co-dominant for the vegetation to be classified as the TEC. A review of nearby vegetation types on the proposed alignment within 5 km of the mapped TEC extent identifies four additional vegetation types (Table 1), one of which (EoMpSf) is dominated by Eucalyptus occidentalis, listed as a ‘key eucalypt species’ for the TEC. Eucalyptus occidentalis woodland is widespread across the South Coast region of Western Australia where it typically dominates drainage lines or seasonally wet areas, it is certainly not largely restricted to the mapped potential TEC extent, nor does it occur within the subject portion of the alignment. It is concluded that none of the vegetation types recorded within the section of the alignment that corresponds with TEC mapping (potential extent), or within 5 km, are considered to represent the ‘Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt’ TEC.

Yours sincerely Ecoscape (Australia) Pty Ltd

STEPHEN KERN Senior Botanist

QA Approved by: Lyn Atkins Date: 19/02/2016

REFERENCES Commonwealth of Australia. Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Commonwealth of Australia. 2012. Interim Biogeographical Regionalisation for Australia (Version 7). Available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/parks/nrs/science/pubs/bioregions.pdf.

Department of the Environment 2016a, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Approved Conservation Advice (including listing advice) for the Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt, Australian Government, Canberra.

Department of the Environment, 2016b. Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt ecological community, Australian Government.

Ecoscape (Australia) Pty Ltd 2015, State Barrier Fence Biological Surveys, Unpublished report for Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia.

266000 271000 276000 281000 286000 LEGEND

M Local Road e la le Unsealed Road u c

a ! ! ! ! ! !

R Vehicle Track EpMhGa d Watercourses Vegetation Types CqAp EpEa EeEsBi EeMsGa EiMcGa EsBpLt EpBmMs 0

0 EoMpSf 0 5 9

2 EoMtTc 6 CqAp EpBmMs EpBmMs EpEa EpMhGa EsBpLt EpBmMs EeMsGa Extent of Western Mallee IBRA Sub Region Western Mallee Native Vegetation Extent (DAFWA 2012) EpMhGa EoMtTc DPaW Managed Lands and Waters (DPaW 2014)

d R t in o P t s e W

0 R 31754 0

0 Cheadanup 0 9

2 Nature Reserve 6

EeMsGa

EpEa

EpBmMs

R aw lin EiMcGa EoMpSf EpEa son EpMhGa Rd EiMcGa 0 0 0 5

8 EeEsBi 2

6 EpMhGa EpBmMs EiMcGa EeEsBi

Southern Cross Eastern Goldfield Mardabilla

A U T H O R : A F C H E C K E D : J N D A T E : F E B - 1 6 P R O J E C T N O : 3 6 4 0 - 1 6 Western Mallee d R e ol kh SALMON GUMS STATE BARRIER FENCE THREATEDED oc Eastern Mallee R ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY MAPPING Mardabilla GRASS PATCH CLIENT: DAFWA 0 0 0 0 8 2 6 SCADDAN VEG ETATION TYPES WITHIN WESTERN MALLEE IBRA SUB REGION O L D F I E L D Fitzgerald GIBSON R I V ER MUNGLINUP Recherche CONDINGUP

JERDACUTTUP ESPERANCE MASCPAL E 1:80 ,000 1@ A 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 km

GDA 1994 MGA Zone 51